Free to Dream Again
by TheFreshApple
Summary: Stella’s negative news brings positive results when she tells the man she truly loves. Contains spoilers for Ep. 3.21, Past Imperfect. Fiesta!
1. Telling Him

**Title:** Free to Dream Again

**Author:** Spontaneity

**Disclaimer**: If they belonged to me, this sexual tension would NOT still be here! C'mon, people!

**Pairing:** Flack/Stella (Shocking, I know, that I pause on the DL love for a moment)

**Summary**: Stella's negative news bring positive results when she tells the man she truly loves.

**A/N**: This does contain spoilers for Episode 3.21, Past Imperfect… if you don't want to know, don't read! **I WARNED YOU!!**

---

_Negative. Negative!_ The Hallelujah Chorus in Stella Bonasera's mind was singing the words as a mantra while she walked through the busy hallways of the NYPD Crime Lab. A small smile crept over her lips as she maneuvered her way around lab techs and other CSI personnel. The small feeling of guilt of being happy over such news when so many other people were suffering from HIV was quelled by her sudden desire to do something drastic; Stella was free to live again! She straightened her back a little bit more, adding a bit of a bounce to her step. She was a woman with a life ahead of her, and she wasn't going to waste one moment of it. She had just saved a woman from a horrible fate, and the girl was going to be reunited with her mother after a few tests and an evaluation. She had helped a mother find her daughter. Most of all, she had tested negative for HIV after weeks of sleepless nights and nail biting phone calls.

Her beeper went off suddenly, cutting through Stella's joyous mood. She read the view screen quickly before straightening her smile into a grim line. Celebrations were going to have to wait. It was time to work.

She arrived at Mac's office about the same time Lindsay did, smiling briefly at the younger woman before stopping short in the doorway of the head CSI's office. Mac's face was downright pale, and he sat in his desk chair uncomfortably. By the look of his body language, and the color of his skin, Stella could tell something was seriously wrong, and it put her whole body on alert. She caught Flack's eye and waved him over, biting her lip when his brow creased with anxiety. _Something's definitely not right,_ Stella thought to herself, and Lindsay folded her arms apprehensively, as though agreeing with Stella's mind.

"What's going on, Don?" Stella whispered, pulling Flack away from the younger woman. She watched with observant eyes as Danny came up behind Lindsay, whispering words into her ear that clearly made the younger woman relax. Stella flashed a quick smile at Danny before focusing back on Flack's cool blue eyes. She noticed the detective looked exhausted and her suspicions were confirmed when he rubbed his face wearily.

"Well, what we've got so far is what looks like police brutality. It looks like Mac pushed Clay Dobson off the roof of a building." At Stella's flabbergasted expression, Don nodded, pushing on. "Dobson was handcuffed and the way he fell suggested that he was pushed." Turning to look at Mac in his office, Flack's shoulders tensed. "The evidence is all there, Stel."

Stella nodded slowly, wringing her hands. "How exactly did this happen?"

"Well, after we found the girl, Mac rushed out, and I followed him." Flack studied Stella's face and she nodded to let him know that she knew that much. "Well, when we got to Dobson's office, Mac was already in pursuit. So I called for backup, and me and the squad cars go around back, to head off any escape route. Before I know it, boom," he slammed his fist into his hand to emphasize his point, "Dobson's lyin' dead on a squad car in front of me, and Mac's on the roof, lookin' down at the dead body." Flack sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It looks like a killin' to me, Stel."

"What will this mean for Mac?" Stella looked over the tall detective's shoulder to survey her boss and friend. Now that she knew the whole story, she understood why Mac looked so terrible. She'd be devastated if she had pulled the integrity of the lab into question, and Mac was even bigger on honor than her. She attempted to brush past Flack, to go to Mac, but he held her back, silencing her protests with a single look. "They're gonna want to run an inside investigation on this," he whispered into her ear, and Stella chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "So, I can't talk to him?"

Flack shook his head. "No. You know procedure." He sighed. "I hate to do this Stel, but no one can talk to Mac until they get someone in here. Gerard's orders, not mine." He held up his hands helplessly. Stella nodded and watched as Danny led Lindsay away, both of them glancing over at her and Flack's quiet conference: Lindsay with a look of worry and Danny with anger on his handsome features.

Stella could understand how Danny was feeling. He must feel like he was being left out of the loop, and if there was one thing Danny detested, it was being uninformed. "Well," Stella ran a hand through her curly hair, thinking out-loud, "I guess I'm going to have to tell the team what's going on." _Damn,_ she thought. "I was going to tell him first."

"Tell him what first?" Flack's voice cut through her thoughts and Stella very nearly clapped a hand over her mouth. She had spoken that thought; now there was no avoiding the look of curiosity on Flack's face. Stella sighed and made up her mind: he deserved to know the truth anyway. "You know the case we did a few weeks back, with the music exec that had HIV?" Flack's eyes bored into hers and Stella flinched at the intensity she saw there. "Well, a piece of glass that had his blood on it slipped and cut me while I was processing the scene."

"Fuck, Stel," Flack mumbled, and Stella smirked. "Yeah, well, I just found out the results."

"And?" _So much for patience,_ Stella thought, snorting at Flack's uneasy expression. "My test came back negative."

The famous Flack grin popped onto his face, crinkling his eyes and making him look like a carefree schoolboy. "Stella, that's terrific news!" Before she knew what was happening, he had swept her up into a tight hug. She found herself giggling softly and sighed with contentment when her feet finally touched the ground again. She looked up into Flack's happy face and couldn't help but smile back. Now that the scare of disease was out of the way, she could get back to what she had been planning before the whole mess began: a romantic evening with Don Flack Jr. But first…

"I'll go tell the team. You see when the investigator's coming?" Stella flipped into in-charge mode, smiling at Flack again as he flashed her the thumb's up sign before leaving quickly to do as she asked. She would get the nerve up to ask him out, but work always came first.

At least she was free to dream again.

---

_So, yes, Stella is HIV negative! I love Adam for doing that test for her! I just watched the episode, and I thought it should produce something good, so I came up with a bit of fluffy moments between Flack and Stella. As always, comments and critiques are loved!_


	2. Telling Her

**A/N:** _I decided to do a second chapter for this, just because I love you guys… and Flack needs a moment with Stella! _

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Don Flack was leaning against his squad car when Stella walked out of the building later that night. She was rummaging through her purse, looking for keys of some sort, he presumed, but stopped short when she saw him grinning at her. "What?" she asked, cocking her head playfully.

Flack just grinned and opened the passenger door of the car. "Get in. I'm gonna take you out to dinner, to celebrate."

Stella placed her hands on her hips, purse search forgotten. "My boss is under an internal investigation, and you want to celebrate?"

"That came out wrong." Internally, Don winced. He should have known Stella would want to be professional about all of this: she was one of Mac's closet confidantes, after all. "What I meant to say was, I want to celebrate life with you. Over drinks."

All it took was her green eyes widening for Don to shift uncomfortably and groan, "That wasn't right either."

Stella laughed, a loud vibrant sound that made Don smile. "I think I know what you mean." She looked out at the New York City skyline in the fading sunset light before glancing back at Flack and smiling. "I may have to take you up on that offer."

Don smiled and gestured to the still-open car door. "Your chariot awaits, milady."

---

"I must admit, we have had some pretty insane cases come our way," Stella laughed into her drink, attempting to stay on the bar stool she was so precariously perched upon. Don grabbed her elbow, keeping her steady while he snorted in amusement as well, knocking back another beer. "How about tha' haunted church case?" he suggested, face falling as he remembered who exactly had been on that particular run. Stella smiled sadly, raising her glass. "May Aiden rest in peace."

The two of them clinked glasses together solemnly, each lost to their own thoughts for a moment. Stella sighed after polishing off her glass, setting it back on the bar with a faint thud. She glanced at Don out of the corner of her eye, grabbing a swizzle stick and twirling it between her fingers. Don watched the red stick intermingle with Stella's graceful digits and he cleared his throat.

"Why didn't you tell me when you first found out that guy had HIV that it was possible you could also be infected?" Don's question was abrupt, but Stella had subconsciously been prepping for it all night. She sighed and folded the swizzle stick in half, bending it as she spoke. "I didn't want rumors to start up around the lab, and for people to get more stressed than they already were. It was just so much easier to tell Mac and just Mac than to have to explain to everyone that I forgot to double glove, or watch what I was doing with the glass." Stella nodded to the bartender as she set a glass of water down next to the CSI and Stella took a long pull before continuing. "When there was a chance that I could get immediate results, I took the risk of just doing it. You have no idea how big of a relief it was to know that I was free to live again." She shook her head. "After that euthanasia case, death has terrified me."

Don snorted. "Stel, you hardly seem like the kinda woman who would let a thing like death scare her." He leaned forward slightly, so as to allow better hearing of what he had to say next. "In fact, you hardly seem like the woman who would let much scare her at all." He leaned back, blue eyes studying her pretty features. "So why were you scared to tell me?"

Stella shrugged, not really knowing the answer. "I don't know, Don. I mean, I guess I could have told you," she mused, "but on some level I didn't want you worried about me when work is such a hassle right now."

Much to her surprise, Don just nodded slowly before taking a sip of her water. "Well, that's all I wanted to know." He slid off the stool, holding out his hand. "May I take you home?"

Giggling slightly, for she was a bit hammered, Stella slid off her stool as well, placing her delicate hand in his considerable larger one. "You may, Detective."

---

On the way to her apartment, Stella couldn't help but ask. "Do you think Mac's going to get out of this thing okay?"

Don didn't take his eyes off of the road, but she could see his shoulders tense. "It's hard to say, Stel. I'm incredibly close to going back to church for the first time in I dunno how many years and praying to God that Dobson jumped and Mac is innocent. Whatever happens though," he looked away from the road to glance at her and Stella didn't miss the blankness and exhaustion in his eyes, "It's gonna take a lot of work by everybody to make sure the lab stays in one piece."

Stella nodded and remained silent the rest of the ride home. When Don pulled up in front of her building, she was mortified when he insisted on walking her up. "There's a lot of strange men about," he told her in the elevator, smiling at her pout. "I wouldn't want you to have to kick someone's ass when I could very well be doin' it for you." His smile widened as her laughter echoed through the elevator and he shifted slightly, barely moving closer to her. His palms were surprisingly sweaty, and for the first time in a long time, Don Flack cursed himself for being such a snappy dresser and wearing a tie. He couldn't breathe when he was in the same space with her, and he couldn't think clearly when she was looking at him with those big green eyes. When the elevator dinged on her floor, he graciously let her exit first, sighing a breath of relief. He was safe, for the moment.

"Well, this is me." Stella reached into her purse for her keys, cursing silently as her search became fruitless after one pocket. "Thanks for walking me up, Don. I apprec-"

Her words were silent as his lips pressed gently to hers, taking the very breath from her lungs. Surprise took over her muscles and it was a few moments before Stella realized she needed to do something with her arms. She wrapped them around his neck, puling him closer.

"Stella." He groaned her name, almost reverently, and she pulled away from him, emerald eyes meeting with ice blue. "I have a confession," he whispered, and she nodded dizzily, her voice box seemingly out of commission. "Things are gonna get rough over the next couple of days, with Mac and everything." He ran a hand through her curls, his eyes still locked with hers. "But I don't want us to be just friends any more. To tell you the truth, the minute you hugged me in that hospital room after that whole thing with that bastard Frankie, I didn't want to be _just friends_ any more." He sighed and pulled her closer, needing her to be close to him. "And I know that you may want to concentrate on your new regain of life and everything, along with work, but I'm willing to get us," he motioned between the two of them and Stella smiled, "to work. Dammit, Stella, you scared me to death when you suddenly pulled away after that HIV guy's case, and when you told me why this afternoon, I realized that I can't run the risk of losing you without having you as mine first." He bit his lip anxiously. "Do you know what I'm saying?"

"Completely." Her lips found his again and he pressed her against her door, hungry for what she was offering him. Vaguely, the thought came to Stella's mind that he had made the first move, not her, defeating her whole plan, but she surprised herself when she discovered that she didn't care a whit. All she cared about was his arms around her, and his lips on her lips.

Stella had a lot of living left to do, and she planned on spending it with him.

---

**A/N:**_ Go brush your teeth children. :D_ _I hope it was fluffy enough to sate the appetites of all of you who wanted more._


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